Author's Note: It took longer than I had originally planned. I'm not sure if its that much of an update though. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way.

Chapter 1: Realizations and Memories

It was always night in Hueco Mundo. The moon reflected a deep, pure red, while the stars shone an eerie pure white light on the dry warm sand. Rukia woke up on the cold, concrete floor of her cellar. Faint traces of the moonlight landed in through the small, cut out window placed inches below the towering ceiling.

Rukia's black shinigami robe had been replaced with a white gown, except it was now drenched in layers and layers of blood. And worst of all, it was her own blood. At times, she hated the stagnant smell of it, and the tickling sensation it gave her when it seeped into her clothing, and down her skin.

She pushed her hands off the ground, hoisted herself up, and then propped herself up against the wall, for support. This, she soon ended up regretting, when pain lanced up her arms from the impact of the rough ground.

It was indeed torture here, in Hueco Mundo. Rukia had just arrived and had already received not only a deep gash on her cheek, but also a broken rib and broken bones.

She looked down at her hands, at the blue cuffs which were placed around her wrists. Rukia detested them. They sealed off all her reiatsu, which she desperately needed to heal herself or she would die from losing too much blood. Where was Ichigo and the others when she needed them? She shook her head, ridding herself of that thought. If she continued to stay in Hueco Mundo any longer than one week, she would surely die.

It was time to prove them they were wrong and that she could take care of herself. With a renewed source of determination, she began plotting on how to escape Hueco Mundo, or what she thought was a living hell.

A frustrated Ichigo sat in his desk, scribbling madly at his homework. What else could he do now that Rukia wasn't there. It was always hollows, hollows, and more hollows. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was his fault.

Flashback:

Rukia sat on the hard, rough bed of Ichigo, a drawing notebook clutched in one hand, and a pencil in the other hand. She tapped the pencil on her chin repeatedly, then stopped and looked at Ichigo. Ichigo, on the other hand, was seated in his desk, sighing contently once he had finished his...homework. For him, it was almost impossible to balance his shinigami duties with his school work.

Finally Rukia spoke.

"Hmmm...Ichigo, what should I draw?"

Dumbfounded, Ichigo turned his chair around and looked at Rukia. Since when did Rukia ask Ichigo about what she should draw? Uncertain brown, chocolate eyes met the dark amethyst ones.

"What baka?" Rukia scowled, looking up at Ichigo, Can you even answer the question?"

Taken aback, Ichigo dropped his pencil with a soft clang on his desk. "Don't call me a baka!"

"Fine, then you're an insufferable baka," Rukia hissed.

With annoyance, Ichigo down to glance at Rukia's drawing, in her out-streched hands. On the rough paper was drawn what looked like a small bunny or rabbit in an outfit.

An idea soon formed in Ichigo's head, a perfect rebuke to offend Rukia. Completely.

"Who taught you how to draw?" Ichigo smirked. Knowing Rukia, she'd probably scream right now and then...but...

"Nii-sama did." Rukia replied and gave off a content smile, as if praising Byakuya.

Ichigo paled. No wonder...

He had always wondered whether it was that Byakuya drew horribly, or that Rukia just couldn't draw. Probably it was both.

"Well, anyways, you can go on drawing your stupid, idiotic pictures," Ichigo mumbled as he turned his chair back towards his desk when a small hand grabbed at his shirt, causing him to flinch and fall off his chair, knocking over the chair as well in the process.

"What did you say?" Rukia growled. If Ichigo thought this was a joke, it wasn't funny. There were at least millions of things she could do that were better than what he could imagine. If he could even imagine. What's more, is that Ichigo couldn't draw himself...at least, not better than what she could draw.

Ichigo immediately jumped back up, and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"What the-"

A small, lithe leg swiftly kicked at his stomach, blocking his words from coming out. Ichigo fell onto the ground, pain welling up in his stomach. She kicked hard, for a girl. Dismissing Ichigo's pain, Rukia just sat back on the bed, slowly observing Ichigo's movements. Silence briefly entered in the atmosphere between them, which wasn't a good sign.

Almost grunting, Ichigo stood up and asked the question yet again, with even more anger than before, "What the hell was that for?!"

"You didn't answer my question." Rukia bluntly replied, a hint of coldness lingering in her voice.

"And you didn't say I had to!" Ichigo yelled back, flailing his arms in the air, and ignoring the pain in his stomach.

"Answer now, or else." She stated, as she watched Ichigo in pain. Slowly, Rukia stood up and picked up Ichigo's chair, and at the same time, sat on it, cross-legged.

A sense of fury entered Ichigo. That was his chair not hers. Coming from a very noble family, she wasn't all that humble, or even polite with words.

Ichigo felt anger boiling inside of him. Was Rukia really that touchy about her art? Well, it was time to find out.

"Well," Rukia snarled, "I'm wai..ting"

By looking at her dark violet quartz eyes, it was now clear to Ichigo found that Rukia was dead serious, and so, after another brief moment of silence, he cleared his throught and immediately decided to answer her question.

"I said, your drawings suck," Ichigo recalled in a strong confident voice, not wanting to lie to Rukia.

"Could you repeat that?" Rukia said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I said, your drawings suck" Ichigo repeated with the same amount of confidence in his voice as the last time. He could see Rukia's body shacking unconsciously, and her bangs covered her eyes.

'Ah, shit!' Ichigo panicked, 'I made her cry!'

Ichigo got up and placed a comforting hand on Rukia's shoulder. He bent over to look at Rukia's face...

"Are you okay?" he asked her soothingly.

That was the last straw for Rukia. She clenched her fist, and raised her head to look at Ichigo's worried one. Realization dawned upon Ichigo. She wasn't crying at all; she was shaking because of anger.

Before Ichigo had time to react, he felt a fist at his face. The force pushed him backwards, and his back crashed onto the wall behind him. His anger had died down, and had been replaced with fear. She really reminded him of Byakuya now...

"Well.." Ichigo stuttered, "If you're gonna draw, then draw properly!"

He now struggled to get up. Never before had he seen Rukia this angry.

"Well, excuse me!" Rukia snapped back, "Lets see if you can do better!"

She threw her pencil and notebook towards his head, and walked steadily, but angrily towards the door. Glaring back at Ichigo, she snarled, "Next time, don't be so lucky."

Almost laughing now, Ichigo could see the many mistakes he'd made. Rukia was a girl, and like all girls, they too had their own sense of pride. He now wished Rukia was back, and desperately wanted to apologize. But, when he looked at the date on his watch, it was July 17, the very day his mother died. Rain clouded his thoughts, as he hoped Rukia was okay.

Meanwhile, at Soul Society...

Upon entering the room, Byakuya knew something was wrong, and obviously it dealt with private affairs in his family. He looked around the empty captains' meeting room uncertainly. Why had he been summoned to the first division headquarters, and alone? Usually, a letter would arrive...this must've been important. He let his gaze wander around for a while before resting his eyes on the soutaicho.

"May I ask why I have been summoned?" Byakuya walked towards the soutaicho, and gave a polite bow.

"As you already know about Aizen..." the soutaicho paused, "It has been to our attention that your... ahem...sister Rukia Kuchiki...has been kidnapped to Hueco Mundo."

A shocked expression appeared on Byakuya's face. It took a while for him to process the imformation. Those damn arrancars had kidnapped his sister. But why?

"I will permit you to go to Hueco Mundo..." the soutaicho started, as Byakuya looked up, "under one condition."

"And what might that be?" Byakuya questioned, regaining his composture.

"I request that you also take another captain with you, except for Unohana taicho. She is desperately needed here," the soutaicho said, "Other than that, you are able to choose freely between your subordinates and one captain."

"Hai..." Byakuya stared blankly ahead.

"You are dismissed Kuchiki-taicho."

With one final glance at the sou-taicho, Byakuya shunpoed out of the first division headquarters.

Now, Byakuya thought, who to choose?

Meawhile, in Hueco Mundo...

Ichimaru walked up to Aizen, with his slitted eyes and foxy smile.

"Aizen-sama, did we bring tha' little thing fer tha' others ta come?" Ichimaru asked.

"Not quite..." Aizen replied, leaning casually against his massive chair arm, "Not quite..."

Author's Note: please comment and review! :) Gotta go work on my other story!

-Ja ne!